The present invention relates to a hand labelling apparatus which in a working cycle imprints and dispenses pressure-sensitive labels adhering to a carrier tape, comprising a feed means which under the control of an operating lever pivotal between a rest position and a working position draws the carrier tape stepwise about a peel edge at which in each working cycle a pressure-sensitive label on feeding in a forward direction detaches from the carrier tape and moves into a dispensing position, and a printing mechanism which in each working cycle at a printing zone remote from the peel edge oppositely to the forward direction produces an imprint on a pressure-sensitive label.
In an apparatus of this type known from DE-PS No. 2,345,249 the imprinting of the pressure-sensitive labels takes place in a printing zone which is two label lengths away from the peel edge in a direction opposite to the forward direction of the carrier tape. This means that the pressure-sensitive label which is brought in an operating cycle into the dispensing position in which it can be applied to an article has already been imprinted in the previous operating cycle. Thus, after the application of the label to an article, before the start of the next operating cycle a label provided with an imprint is already present in the apparatus. If the imprint to be applied is changed this label must be removed from the apparatus so that only labels provided with the changed imprint are applied to articles. Since the imprints on the labels are usually sales prices the presence of a label with an old price imprint is highly undesirable because articles can be marked with the wrong price if the operator forgets to remove the already imprinted label from the apparatus after a price change.
The objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the type outlined at the beginning which is such that even with a relatively large distance between the peel edge and the printing zone after completion of an operating cycle there is no already imprinted but undispensed pressure-sensitive label in the apparatus.
According to the invention this objective is achieved in that the feed means comprises a tape feed mechanism which is driven by the operating lever and which on the movement of the operating lever from the rest position to the work position moves the carrier tape in the return direction opposite the forward direction through at least a distance which is equal to the distance of the peel edge from the printing zone and which on the return of the operating lever from the working position to the rest position moves the carrier tape in the forward direction through the same distance plus one label length. In the apparatus according to the invention the carrier tape with the pressure-sensitive labels adhered thereto is moved in each operating cycle in a so called pilgrim step movement which means that the label disposed at the peel edge is first brought back to the printing zone, whereupon after the printing operation it is again transported in the forward direction to the peel edge and beyond into the dispensing position. This means that in each operating cycle only one pressure-sensitive label is imprinted which is then also the label which is brought in the same operating cycle into the dispensing position and can be attached to an article. If the imprint to be produced on the label is changed, because of the construction of the hand labelling apparatus according to the invention the next label dispensed already bears the new imprint. The removal of labels already provided with the old imprint in previous operating cycles is thus not necessary and consequently there is no danger of applying incorrectly imprinted labels.